Sam Esmail is an Egyptian-American screenwriter, director, and television producer who revolutionised modern storytelling with his critically acclaimed series Mr Robot. As the founder of Esmail Corp, he’s become one of Hollywood’s most distinctive creative voices, known for his cinematic approach to television and exploration of technology, alienation, and mental health.
Biography
Born on September 17, 1977, in Hoboken, New Jersey, Sam Esmail grew up in a “stringent Muslim” household with Egyptian immigrant parents. He’s the second of four children, with an older sister and two younger brothers, including Samer Esmail, who later worked on Mr Robot and Homecoming.
When Sam was five, his family relocated to South Carolina before settling in Charlotte, North Carolina. Growing up as an Egyptian-American in the Southern United States, he faced racism and struggled to fit in. During high school in Summerville, South Carolina, Esmail channelled his outsider status into a love of cinema, hosting Stanley Kubrick film festivals at home.
From age nine, Esmail showed a keen interest in technology. He received his first computer that year and taught himself programming shortly after. The family eventually returned to New Jersey, where he graduated from Washington Township High School in Sewell in 1995.
Esmail then attended New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, pursuing film and computer science. He worked in the computer lab but landed on academic probation after hacking into the email system.
After graduating from NYU in 1998, Esmail briefly worked for an internet start-up before founding Portal Vision, his own internet service provider software company. At just 20, he raised £4.7 million ($6 million) in venture capital during the dot-com boom. However, his software became obsolete as broadband replaced dial-up, leading him to leave his position as president and CTO.
In 2001, Esmail relocated to Los Angeles to pursue filmmaking, enrolling at the AFI Conservatory, where he earned an MFA in directing in 2004.
Career
After graduating from AFI in 2004, Esmail faced harsh realities breaking into Hollywood. Unable to secure directing opportunities, he worked as an assistant film editor and post-production supervisor for reality shows, comedy specials, and documentaries.
During this period, he contributed to programmes for Lifetime and A&E, and to “Tourgasm” on HBO, as well as “making of” features for the Fast and the Furious franchise. Whilst the work paid bills, it fell short of his creative ambitions.
Frustrated with Hollywood’s conventional approach, Esmail wrote his own screenplays. His persistence paid off when “Sequels, Remakes & Adaptations” made the 2008 Black List, an annual survey of Hollywood’s most popular unproduced screenplays. Another screenplay made the list the following year, boosting his reputation.
In 2014, Esmail wrote and directed his first feature film, Comet, a non-linear romantic drama starring Justin Long and Emmy Rossum. The film explored a six-year relationship through pivotal moments presented out of chronological order. Though it received a limited theatrical release through IFC Films, Comet proved that Esmail had a unique visual style and a thematic focus on alienation and human connection.
The production also introduced Esmail to Emmy Rossum, sparking a professional relationship that eventually became romantic.
Mr Robot
Esmail began developing Mr Robot as a feature film in the late 2000s. Inspired by the 2008 financial crisis and the Arab Spring, he crafted a story about Elliot Alderson, a cybersecurity engineer and hacker with social anxiety disorder who joins an underground group of anarchist hackers.
Esmail has acknowledged that Elliot is a “thinly-veiled version” of himself. Like his protagonist, he suffers from social anxiety disorder and hails from Washington Township, New Jersey. This personal connection infused the series with authenticity.
He eventually reimagined the project as a television series with a four or five-season arc. After securing management from Anonymous Content, USA Network greenlit the project in 2014.
Mr Robot premiered on USA Network on June 24, 2015, to immediate critical acclaim. Esmail served as creator, executive producer, and head writer. From season two onwards, he personally directed every episode, ultimately directing 38 of the show’s 45 episodes.
The series earned praise for its accurate portrayal of hacking culture, corporate corruption, mental health, and societal alienation. It won the Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Drama in 2016 and the Critics’ Choice Television Award for Best Drama Series. The show ran for four seasons, concluding in October 2019, and launched Rami Malek to stardom.
Esmail Corp and Television Projects
Following the success of Mr Robot, Esmail founded Esmail Corp. In February 2019, he signed a four-year exclusive deal with Universal Content Productions.
His next major project was Homecoming, an Amazon Prime Video psychological thriller based on the podcast of the same name. He directed all episodes of the first season, which premiered in November 2018, starring Julia Roberts and Bobby Cannavale. Esmail’s direction earned praise for its cinematic quality and distinctive visual style, earning a Golden Globe nomination for Best Television Series – Drama in 2019.
Other television projects include Briarpatch (2020), Gaslit (2022), starring Julia Roberts and Sean Penn; Angelyne (2022), developed with wife Emmy Rossum; and The Resort (2022).
Leave the World Behind
In 2023, Esmail returned to feature directing with Leave the World Behind, a Netflix adaptation of Rumaan Alam’s 2020 novel. The apocalyptic thriller starred Julia Roberts, Mahershala Ali, and Ethan Hawke. Barack and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground Productions joined as producers, with the former president providing notes on the film.
The film premiered at AFI Fest in October 2023 before its Netflix release in December, becoming the platform’s fifth-most-popular English-language film of all time.
In 2024, Warner Bros won a bidding war for Esmail’s next thriller, Panic Carefully, described as being in the vein of Mr Robot and The Silence of the Lambs. The film stars Julia Roberts, Elizabeth Olsen, and Eddie Redmayne, and follows the hunt for a cyberterrorist.
Personal Life
Sam Esmail and Emmy Rossum met in 2013 when she was cast in Comet. After two years of dating, they got engaged in August 2015 and married on May 28, 2017, at Central Synagogue in New York City.
Emmy Rossum is best known for portraying Fiona Gallagher in Shameless and received a Golden Globe nomination for The Phantom of the Opera. The couple have two children: a daughter born in May 2021 and a son born in April 2023.
Esmail is fluent in Arabic and delivered part of his Golden Globes acceptance speech in the language. He divides his time between New York City, where he lives with his family, and Los Angeles, where Esmail Corp maintains offices. Despite his success, he still prefers New York and visits LA “in small doses.”
Net Worth
As of 2025, Sam Esmail’s estimated net worth is approximately £14 million ($18 million). His wealth derives from his career as creator, writer, director, and producer of acclaimed television series and films.
Mr Robot remains his most lucrative project, whilst Leave the World Behind, which became Netflix’s fifth-most-popular English-language film, contributed significantly to his wealth. His 2019 exclusive deal with Universal Content Productions provides substantial income, along with producer fees from multiple series, including Homecoming, Gaslit, Angelyne, and The Resort.
With multiple projects in development, including the high-profile Panic Carefully for Warner Bros, industry analysts suggest Esmail’s net worth could reach £19-23 million ($25-30 million) within the next few years.
Awards and Recognition
Throughout his career, Esmail has received numerous accolades:
- 2015: SXSW Film Audience Award for Best Episodic (Mr Robot)
- 2015: Gotham Independent Film Award for Breakthrough Series (Mr Robot)
- 2016: Writers Guild of America Award for Best New Series (Mr Robot)
- 2016: Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Drama (Mr Robot)
- 2016: Critics’ Choice Television Award for Best Drama Series (Mr Robot)
- 2019: Satellite Award for Best Television Series – Drama (Homecoming)
He’s also received multiple Emmy nominations for Outstanding Drama Series and Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series.